World Champion of MotoGP Valentino Rossi, put his embarrassing opening day Valencia completely behind him with a full on second day testing for Ferrari. During the course of the day out of the 15 drivers present, Rossi set the ninth best lap time! This is his first 'real' test on the track with other teams and drivers actually out at the same time as him. After other previous private test sessions held at Fiorano and Mugello, this test marks Rossi's fourth outing in a Ferrari Formula One car.
On Tuesday, when his rain delayed debut in Valencia, Rossi was left rather red faced after the Italian superstar spun and stalled his F2004 on wet weather tyres within half a lap and in front of most of the F1 paddock. Even with this small mishap, Valentino had nothing to feel embarrassed about on Wednesday when the #46 set a best lap time of 1min 12.851secs from 53 laps. Placing the seven times motorcycling world champion just 1.622secs from fastest man Fernando Alonso of Renault, who is the reigning F1 world champion.
But it was perhaps the regular F1 drivers who were left with pie on their faces, after the Camel Yamaha rider was still ahead of multiple GP winner David Coulthard of Red Bull Racing, McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, WilliamsF1 driver Mark Webber and Toyota race driver Jarno Trulli. But, on the other hand, even though it is very tempting to draw a direct distinction between Rossi and the F1 regulars in attendance, including seven times world champion Michael Schumacher, who was only just over a second faster than Rossi. It’s worth pointing out that Valentio was driving a Ferrari F2004 M, rather than the 2006 spec Ferrari 248 that Schumacher was in.
The difference between the two machines is the engine: The 248 used by Schumacher and most other F1 cars at Valencia is powered by an 'unlimited' 2.4-litre V8 engine, as required by the 2006 regulations. Nevertheless, a rule that was designed to help teams who were unable to acquire a new V8 means that 3.0-litre V10 engines can still be raced in 2006, providing their power is limited to a level comparable to the V8. It was this type of 'limited' V10 engine which ANSA reports Rossi's car as having.
If that is the case, despite a late spin and providing Ferrari have correctly restricted the engine, then Valentino did a very remarkable job yesterday and will no doubt be looking to advance even further today, especially when 2006 Ferrari driver Felipe Massa joins Schumacher and Rossi in action for the Italian team.
The Wednesday 1 February Valencia F1 test times can be seen below. The track conditions were wet in the morning and sunny and dry in the afternoon.
1. Fernando Alonso Renault-Renault 1m 11.229s 47 laps M *
2. Jenson Button Honda-Honda 1m 11.332s 86 laps M *
3. Michael Schumacher Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 11.814s 71 laps B *
4. Juan Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 1m 11.978s 68 laps M *
5. Rubens Barrichello Honda-Honda 1m 12.063s 115 laps M *
6. Heikki Kovalainen Renault-Renault 1m 12.122s 32 laps M *
7. Jacques Villeneuve BMW-Sauber 1m 12.622s 75 laps M *
8. Ricardo Zonta Toyota-Toyota 1m 12.668s 78 laps B *
9. Valentino Rossi Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 12.851s 53 laps B
10. David Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari 1m 12.891s 36 laps M *
11. Alex Wurz Williams-Cosworth 1m 12.925s 82 laps B
12. Gary Paffett McLaren-Mercedes 1m 12.937s 115 laps M
13. Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1m 13.050s 68 laps B *
14. Jarno Trulli Toyota-Toyota 1m 13.075s 108 laps B *
15. Robert Kubica BMW-Sauber 1m 13.353s 69 laps M
(M denotes Michelin tyres / B denotes Bridgestone tyres / * denotes 2006 car.)
